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Special sections

Armed Forces Arts Churches Courts Politics Sport Titles

ART

Titles of paintings, drawings, sculptures and exhibitions are all in italic.

DANCE

allemande

ballets: titles in italics

cha-cha-cha (not cha-cha)

country

courante

fandango

flamenco

gavotte

gigue

hornpipe

jig

Latin dancing (cap "L'')

Mariinsky for the name of the theatre home of the Kirov Ballet

mazurka

minuet

morris (l/c)

pas de deux, corps de ballet: roman

paso doble (two words)

pavane

pointe shoes: not point

polka

polonaise

quadrille

Rambert Dance Company (formerly Ballet Rambert)

rumba

samba

sarabande

tarantella

waltz

FILM

film titles take italics

film-maker (hyphen)

film noir (roman)

cinéma-vérité (roman)

auteur (roman)

Palme d'Or (roman)

8mm film, 16mm etc

3-D

LITERATURE

All book titles (literature or otherwise) take italics; these include novels, plays, short stories, all poems (short or long), magazine articles, chapter headings etc, as well as textbooks, reference books, biographies etc. But do not italicise the Bible, the Talmud, the Koran, Book of Genesis, the Odyssey etc.

MUSIC

Song titles (classical or pop) take italics; no need to cap every word in the title, eg, Bring It on Home to Me

Album titles take italics

Opus: Op (Op 28)

Number: No (as in Symphony No 3)

Symphony No 3 (roman caps); but where symphonies have numbers and popular alternative titles (Eroica, Pastoral) the titles, when used, are in italics, eg, Eroica. Spell out ordinals, as Mahler's Fourth Symphony (but Symphony No 4)

First Violin Concerto (roman caps, because it is a genre)

Requiem (roman caps, because it is a genre)

Operas: titles take italics, as do arias

Orchestral works with non-genre titles take italics (Night on the Bare Mountain)

Mozart works: K527 etc (numbering system of Köchel)

the Proms (no need to spell out Promenade Concerts); Promenaders; the Last Night of the Proms (caps)

tempos (not tempi)

virtuosos (not virtuosi)

THEATRE

Play titles take italics

dramatis personae (roman)

Wyndham's Theatre, London; see theatre

Act I, scene 2 etc (ie, cap Act and use Roman numeral, l/c scene and Arabic numeral)

TV AND RADIO

Television and radio programmes take italics, except for first mention in reviews, when they go in bold

GENERAL ARTS STYLES

a cappella

Aïda use the diaresis for the opera by Verdi

Albert Hall, Festival Hall, National Theatre, generally omit Royal; but Royal Opera House, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal Ballet (which is different from the Birmingham Royal Ballet), etc

Arts Council England, thereafter the council (l/c) provided the context is clear

arts awards initial cap for titles of awards such as Best Actress, Best Film, Play of the Year etc

Bartók, Béla

the Beatles, the Rolling Stones etc: no need to cap the unless at the start of a sentence; but prefer to keep cap "T'' with The Who, and The The

cinemagoer, dancegoer, operagoer, theatregoer each one word

commedia dell'arte

countertenor

debut, decor, matinee, premiere no accents

Dvorák, Antonin

hi-fi

Janácek, Leos

Janet Holmes à Court

Mariinsky for the name of the theatre home of the Kirov Ballet

mezzo-soprano hyphen

nightclub

3-D

subplot, subtext, subtitle

Symphony Hall, Birmingham (omit the)

Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives (all omit the)

Who, The

Last edited: April 23, 2009